


natural light in a windowless room

by 4wholecats



Series: Whumptober 2020 [5]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Shin Ankoku Ryuu to Hikari no Ken | Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon
Genre: Broken Bones, Gen, Prompt: Failed Escape, Sequel to the dragon's maw, Whumptober 2020, mention of sexual assault
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:00:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26993296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/4wholecats/pseuds/4wholecats
Summary: The door was ajar when Horace awoke. He could see it; the tiny sliver of light coming in from the outside, brightening the windowless room infinitely more than any candle ever could.
Series: Whumptober 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1959316
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	natural light in a windowless room

**Author's Note:**

> sexual assault warning is for a character thinking they will be assaulted but nothing actually happens! figured it would be good to mention it just in case
> 
> the rng machine im using to determine which characters get which prompts really wants horace to have a bad day :(

The door was ajar when Horace awoke. He could see it; the tiny sliver of light coming in from the outside, brightening the windowless room infinitely more than any candle ever could. He held his breath for a moment, expecting the gap to widen and reveal some manner of beast, here to finally deliver him to his fate. But the door did not budge. 

He pulled back the sheets of the bed slowly, as if afraid that the crack of light would hear him and the door would slam in response. The enemy guards that caged him in this room like an animal had cut his bindings nearly a week ago, but the skin of his wrists still stung and argued as he pulled on his gloves and reached for his boots. Still not a sound from outside. Perhaps the guards were gone?

If they weren’t gone, he would blame his little investigation on hunger; he was simply poking his head out to ask for something to eat. But if there was no one there…

What  _ did _ he intend to do? Run away? Abandon the village he was protecting with his surrender? Horace paused. No. The villagers could not possibly be safe under the care of the occupation. The dragons had to be lying. If he could make a break for it, he would go to the village and warn them to evacuate, leading them to safety under the enemy’s noses. Dragons were nocturnal creatures, and based on the light coming from the windows in the hallway, the best time to move was now.

Horace stood slowly, not making a sound as he crept towards the door. The hinges, thankfully well maintained, did not squeak as he leaned into the hallway to investigate his surroundings. 

There was no one there.

The two guards that flanked his prison were nowhere to be seen; not even their weapons remained. The whole place was silent, as if abandoned in a rush. Horace took a deep breath and stepped outside. The last time he had done so, he had been met with a clawed hand swinging for his face, and a threat of deadly violence, but now…

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. 

He steeled himself with a deep breath, closing the door behind him as he moved further into the hallway. No one entered the room during the day; they left him to his business (which mostly consisted of sleeping, pacing, being anxious, and spiraling into near insanity with boredom and worry), so hopefully, his escape would be undetected for at least a few hours. 

Horace shuffled down the hallway, peering around the corner. No one there. 

Down the next corridor, towards the armory. There was an exit to the stables close by, and besides, he needed a weapon. 

When he got there, he was disappointed to find that it had mostly been trashed; all the best kept weapons pilfered, leaving only the rusty and dented iron implements behind. He took a sword and two daggers. While he had more training with a lance, the hallways in this fortress were rather cramped. He was surprised to see his suit of armor, haphazardly repaired but still quite scuffed, displayed on an abandoned training dummy in the corner. He debated putting it on for his escape, but shook his head, deciding against it. It was a heavy set, and he needed to move fast. Besides, if the army had left any of the horses alive after their invasion, the beasts wouldn’t appreciate the extra weight. 

Out of the armory, back down the hall towards the stables. There was a backdoor in one of the servants quarters that he used a lot when he was a boy, sneaking out at night to visit friends he had made in the village. His heart hammered in his throat at the thought of the town again, worry seething beneath his skin like hot oil. If the invaders were not at the castle… then where…

The servant’s quarters were a mess. Who had lived here? Iokaste? She was never so messy. Someone must have searched the place for valuables and left it in this state. She was a kind old lady; Horace sincerely hoped she had gotten out alive. The door to the outside world was shut, but unlocked. Cracking it open, Horace breathed in the fresh air for the first time in weeks. 

The stables were empty, the riding gear missing as well as the horses. Probably given as gifts to the human slaves from their dragon masters. Mumbling a swear under his breath, Horace took one last look around before dashing to the treeline. He had plenty of time until sundown; he could make it to the village on foot. 

The forest was quiet, aside from the odd bird sound and the rustling of leaves. At some point, Horace had gone from sneaking, to jogging, to sprinting, trying to put as much distance between himself and the fortress as possible. He huffed as he skirted around a fallen log. He could see the smoke from the chimneys of the village houses through the gaps in the trees. Almost there-

Something large and fast slammed into his side, knocking him off his feet and crushing his shoulder into a nearby tree. The knight wasn’t sure if the cracking sound he heard came from his body, or from the foliage crushed beneath him on his way down. Gasping, he pushed hard against the thing on top of him.

The man that had tackled him to the ground was larger than him, his sweaty, veiny arms batting Horace’s attacks away as they scuffled in the underbrush. One of Dolhr’s men. They had vacated the fortress only to stand by in the woods just outside… how cruel of them to give him such hope. Horace saw stars as the slave soldier gripped his hair and twisted his face to look up at him. 

“See-” the man sneered at him, and Horace saw his teeth were cracked and yellow, “I told’s them. I say’s that you’re gonna try to get out if we leave you’s without a guard. And they tell’s me to stop questionin’ the big man, but here I am, right as usual.”

Horace swung at him with his dagger, but his wrist was grabbed with such force that the weapon fell to the forest floor with a sad thud. 

“Now then… what should I do with ye’, huh? I could kill ya… I wouldn’t be wrong to do so, I thinks. Ye’ did escape, e’vn though ya told us you wouldn’t.” Horace recognized this man. One of the guards that often guarded his door. A cruel and foul mouthed animal. 

“It would be-” Horace gagged as the man tugged harder at his hair, threatening to rip it out, “ _ unwise _ to do so without consulting your leader, don't you think?”

The man nodded in a manner that was almost sagely.

“Aye, I’d agree. I dunno what plans they have for ye’ yet, but it’d be rude o’v me to interfere. Les’see then… what to do with ye…” Horace grunted as more weight was put on his chest, causing him to slide fully to the ground, pinned under the gruff man. “O’viously, I’ll be takin’ ye back to your room, but before that…”

Horace stiffened under the man as he felt a hand move from his chest further down his body. 

_ No. _

He kicked. Hard. The slave gagged as his foot connected with his stomach, hand releasing Horace in surprise. The knight rolled away, unbothered by the sharp twigs that cut into his hands as he braced against the ground and began to run again, stumbling as he went. He lept over that same fallen log before an arm wrapped around his throat, choking him. He felt the warmth of the other man’s body as his neck was crushed in the crook of his elbow, the noble’s hands scratching at the rough skin, begging for release as he struggled to breathe. He barely heard the man’s words as blood thundered in his ears.

“-get the wrong idea here then, no need to lose ye’r cool and hurt y’rself! ‘M not interest’d in turnin’ ya into some common whore just yet; ah- ye’r lucky ya’ ran into me. Not all my friends are so strict with their preferences, if ye’ catch my driftin’...” Black began to creep in on Horace’s vision. “But I do _ like  _ gettin’ rewards of a different sort, and I’m sure that bringin’ you back in will net me quite a pretty prize from them Masters…”

Horace gasped as he was suddenly released, falling over in a dizzy heap as he breathed in deeply. He stared up at the man’s face as it blocked his vision of the treetops above.

“Ye’r a tenacious fucker, I’ll give you that. Not sure I could get you to keep still on the way back… can’t have you escapin’ now that I have ye’ here…”

The man raised his heavy, iron-clad foot. Horace had one last thought about rolling away, making another desperate attempt at escape, before the foot smashed into his leg, cracking something inside. What was the name of the bone in there? Femur? 

He must have been a sorry sight for sore eyes, Horace thought as the guard looked down at him with pity. Gasping and shaking like a fish out of water, absolutely coated in dirt and fallen leaves, tears welling in the corners of his eyes, leg shattered and twitching on the forest floor. The absolute pinnacle of disappointment. 

He cried out when the slave grabbed him by the armpits and hauled him upright, pain causing him to writhe in the other man’s grasp. Thrown over a shoulder again, for the second time since his surrender. 

“I respect ye’r stubbornness, so I’ll tell ye’ what. I won’t even let Master know ya’ tried to scram, ye? We’ll just go back to the castle, and forget this e’vr happen’d. Nobody gets hurt more than they needs to, yeah?”

Horace would have screamed, had he the energy. The adrenaline was gone now, leaving only angry, writhing frustration. It mixed with the anxiety and worry with such viscosity that Horace pictured it leaving his body through his mouth as a sticky black slime, dripping onto the dirt as the guard dragged him away from freedom, foot by foot.

Back to the room, now without that sliver of hopeful light.


End file.
